How to Enable or Disable Edge Startup Boost using Microsoft Intune

Start by signing into the Microsoft Intune admin center where you'll create the configuration policy for Edge Startup Boost.

Open your web browser and navigate to https://endpoint.microsoft.com. Sign in with your Intune administrator credentials.

Once logged in, navigate to Devices in the left sidebar, then select Windows > Configuration profiles. Click the Create profile button to start creating a new policy.

In the profile creation wizard, select:

• Platform: Windows 10 and later
• Profile type: Settings catalog

Click Create to proceed to the next step.

Configure the basic information for your Edge Startup Boost policy with clear naming and description.

In the Basics tab, fill in the following information:

• Name: Edge Startup Boost - Enable (User Scope)
• Description: Enables Edge Startup Boost feature for improved browser startup performance. Applied to user scope for cross-device functionality.

The naming convention helps distinguish between different Edge policies and their scope. User scope policies follow users across devices, while device scope policies stay with specific machines.

Click Next to proceed to the configuration settings.

Now you'll add the specific Edge Startup Boost setting to your configuration policy.

In the Configuration settings tab, click + Add settings to open the settings picker.

In the search box, type Startup Boost and press Enter. You'll see the Microsoft Edge category appear.

Expand Microsoft Edge > Performance to find the Startup Boost options.

You'll see two options:

• Enable startup boost: Device scope policy
• Enable startup boost (User): User scope policy

Select Enable startup boost (User) for user scope deployment. Check the box next to it and click Close to add it to your policy.

In the settings list, you'll now see the "Enable startup boost (User)" setting. Click on it to configure the value.

Set the dropdown to Enabled to turn on Startup Boost, or Disabled to turn it off.

Click Next to continue.

Scope tags help organize and control access to policies in large organizations. This step is optional but recommended for enterprise environments.

In the Scope tags tab, you can assign tags to control which administrators can see and modify this policy.

If your organization uses scope tags:

• Click + Select scope tags
• Choose the appropriate tags (e.g., "IT Department", "Pilot Group")
• Click Select

If you don't use scope tags or want this policy visible to all Intune administrators, leave this section empty.

Click Next to proceed to assignments.

Configure which users or devices will receive this Edge Startup Boost policy.

In the Assignments tab, you'll configure the target audience for your policy.

Click + Add group under "Included groups" to select your target audience.

Choose your assignment type:

• Users: For user scope policies (recommended for Startup Boost)
• Devices: For device scope policies

Search for and select your target groups. For initial deployment, consider:

• A pilot group like "IT Test Users" for testing
• Specific departments like "Sales Team" or "Marketing"
• All users group for organization-wide deployment

If needed, you can also add exclusion groups under "Excluded groups" to prevent certain users from receiving the policy.

Click Next to continue.

Review all policy settings before final creation and deployment.

In the Review + create tab, carefully review all the configuration details:

• Name and description: Verify they're clear and accurate
• Settings: Confirm "Enable startup boost (User)" is set to your desired state
• Assignments: Check that the correct groups are targeted
• Scope tags: Verify any organizational tags are correct

If everything looks correct, click Create to deploy the policy.

The policy will be created and begin deploying to assigned users/devices. Initial deployment can take up to 8 hours for devices to check in and receive the policy.

Track the deployment progress and ensure the policy is applying successfully to target devices.

Navigate back to Devices > Windows > Configuration profiles and locate your newly created Edge Startup Boost policy.

Click on the policy name to open its details page. Here you can monitor:

• Device and user check-in status: Shows how many devices have received the policy
• Per-setting status: Displays success/failure rates for the Startup Boost setting
• Error reports: Lists any devices that failed to apply the policy

To force immediate policy sync on test devices:

1. Go to Devices > All devices
2. Select a target device
3. Click Sync to force policy check-in

Policy application typically occurs within 15 minutes of sync, but can take up to 8 hours for automatic check-ins.

Confirm that the policy has been applied correctly on target devices by checking the Edge browser settings.

On a device where the policy should be applied, open Microsoft Edge and navigate to the system settings page:

edge://settings/system

Look for the "Startup boost" setting in the System section. When the policy is applied correctly:

• The toggle will reflect your policy setting (enabled/disabled)
• The setting will be grayed out with a policy icon, preventing user modification
• A tooltip will indicate "This setting is managed by your organization"

You can also verify policy application through the Windows Event Viewer:

1. Open Event Viewer
2. Navigate to Applications and Services Logs > Microsoft > Windows > DeviceManagement-Enterprise-Diagnostics-Provider
3. Look for events related to policy application

For additional verification, check the Edge policy status page:

edge://policy

Search for "StartupBoostEnabled" to see the current policy value and source.

Validate that Edge Startup Boost is working as expected and address any common deployment issues.

To test Startup Boost functionality:

1. Restart the target device to trigger the startup boost processes
2. After login, wait 30 seconds for background processes to initialize
3. Launch Microsoft Edge and note the startup time
4. Compare with devices where Startup Boost is disabled

Check if Startup Boost processes are running:

Get-Process | Where-Object {$_.ProcessName -like "*msedge*"}

You should see Edge processes running even before manually launching the browser.

Common troubleshooting steps:

• Policy not applying: Force device sync in Intune and wait 15 minutes
• Setting still user-configurable: Check policy assignment and scope
• Performance issues: Verify device meets hardware requirements (>4GB RAM or >1GB with SSD)
• Conflicts with other policies: Review BackgroundModeEnabled policy interactions

For devices not receiving the policy:

1. Verify the device is Azure AD joined
2. Check Intune enrollment status
3. Confirm user is in the assigned group
4. Review device compliance status